When Heraldo Pickering started receiving services at AspenPointe’s Pathways ACCESS Center two years ago he could not add or subtract, and he pretty much kept to himself.
Today, he is the face of the lobby for AspenPointe’s adult services campus, where Pickering is affectionately known as “Mr. ACCESS Center.” He also is learning algebra in preparation for his GED.
For these reasons and many more, the 60-year-old is being recognized by his peers as the ACCESS Center’s Consumer of the Year. He will be honored at Spotlight on Stigma: Stories of Hope on May 26 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Cornerstone Arts Center on the campus of Colorado College.
Please download the flier for the event here.
It’s been a long road for Pickering, who started receiving therapy services at AspenPointe five years ago after falling into a debilitating depression.
“I felt really alone,” Pickering said after describing a period in his life when he lost his job to injury, his car and his girlfriend. “Everything just came to a head.”
After seeing an ad on television for services at AspenPointe, Pickering decided to call for help.
“I honestly didn’t think anything was wrong. I had never gotten in trouble. I don’t do drugs or drink,” he said. “But I’d only maybe smiled twice in 90 days. I just thought I wasn’t supposed to be happy. I just thought it was normal.”
After encouragement from his therapist, Pickering began to take classes at the ACCESS Center. For years, he tried to find someone who could help him with his reading and writing. At the ACCESS Center, he finally did and he has successfully completed three of the five tests he needs to earn a GED.
Pickering takes every class the ACCESS Center has to offer: “They joke around here that they have to create more classes for me to take because I’ve taken them all.”
And he smiles – often.
In addition to taking classes, Pickering volunteered 173 hours last year, earning him the Volunteer of the Year Award. He has also spoken seven times in the community, talking about his depression and educating the public on mental illness.
“I volunteer because I really want to give back to as many people as I can and I get a lot from it,” he said.
For Pickering, the work he is doing at the ACCESS Center is about more than recovery from depression: it is about pushing himself to succeed.
“I want to have a legacy when I’m gone that I really tried to do something with my life,” he said. “Happiness is a new experience for me. I sincerely want to be the best that I can be.”